Erasure

On a bustling street, six people appeared in an instant, sprawled on the ground.

Fighting back the discomfort of teleportation, Ye Lin was the first to open his eyes. He got up and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

They had appeared on a main street, with roadside billboards covered in English. Traffic streamed past. Under the protection of the system's barrier, the surrounding pedestrians seemed unable to see them and walked right past.

"Huh? No zombies?"

He Zheng climbed to his feet and lowered the twin axes he had raised.

The bustling crowds left him momentarily bewildered.

He had expected a bloody battle right from the start. He hadn't thought the system would be so merciful this time.

And that wasn't all.

All six turned toward the edge of the barrier, where Little Chubby lay on the ground in a school uniform.

"Only one newcomer?"

Delighted, He Zheng kicked Little Chubby on the ground.

The six of them plus one newcomer-as long as nothing like last time happened, wouldn't this only be a seven-person difficulty?

He instinctively started to explain the rules, but the moment he opened his mouth, he hurriedly looked at Ye Lin.

"Uh, Ye Lin, why don't you explain? Though with just this one kid, I reckon you'll only get a point."

It was hard to say whether Little Chubby was lucky or unlucky.

The good news: six veterans carrying one newbie. All he had to do was tag along.

The bad news: this was the Death Exam.

"Y-you... who are you?! Why am I here?!"

"Where is this?! How did I end up overseas?!"

Kicked awake, Little Chubby, dressed in a blue-and-white school uniform, opened his eyes in a panic and kicked his legs against the ground in fear.

Looking at the foreigners around him and the strangely dressed group, he was so frightened he nearly burst into tears.

"You explain."

Ye Lin nodded, signaling for He Zheng to explain the rules. His gaze settled on Little Chubby's curly hair, thoughtful.

He looked like he was from Southern Xinjiang, and wore a Shizi River school uniform.

If Ye Lin remembered correctly, Southern Xinjiang's college entrance exam was only a day later than the inland regions'. But judging by the boy's reaction and the pen still clutched in his hand, he had been teleported directly from the exam room.

Recalling how he himself had entered later yet still encountered He Zheng, Ye Lin felt a strange unease.

Time might flow completely differently inside the Death Exam than it did outside. Logically, he had entered even later than Little Chubby, yet he had taken an exam first.

What determines the order? Region? The individual? Or is there no pattern at all?

With Ye Lin's permission, He Zheng turned back toward Little Chubby with a cold chuckle. Resting an axe on his shoulder, he deftly began explaining the rules.

"Kid, welcome to the Death Exam! Here, all exam content has been replaced by horror and disaster movies!"

"The Insect Race, zombies...!"

"Aaaah! Stay away! Stay away!"

Before He Zheng could finish his usual spiel, the next instant Little Chubby blindly bolted toward the outside of the barrier.

Startled, He Zheng hurriedly reached out to grab him, but the next instant, Little Chubby, who was near the barrier, had already run beyond its protection.

Bang!!

Flesh and blood exploded.

Without even getting a chance to scream, Little Chubby burst into chunks of flesh on the spot!

Like a balloon inflated until it burst, blood and mangled meat sprayed through the air, pattering onto the ground.

Outside the barrier, passing pedestrians screamed in terror. To them, he had seemingly appeared out of thin air, then instantly exploded!

"Holy fuck!!"

He Zheng stared in shock, his outstretched hand frozen in midair.

Everyone stood stunned. Even Ye Lin froze for a moment.

It had all happened too quickly. No one could have imagined that their sole newcomer would get himself killed before the exam even began!

"W-was that... the system erasing him?!"

He Zheng stammered, his mind blank.

None of them had ever seen this happen. For a moment, even An Ke had no answer.

She had encountered plenty of newcomers, but even the most timid had never gone this far. At worst, a beating before the explanation would make even the stupidest person sit still and listen to the rules.

"He Zheng, I think he's dead..."

Zhang Tie swallowed hard and wiped blood off his face.

Beside him, a pale-faced Hu Jia scurried toward the center of the barrier, refusing to go anywhere near its edge again.

Everyone fell silent. He Zheng cursed inwardly, feeling thoroughly jinxed.

"Fuck, what a goddamn idiot!"

"Uh, Ye Lin, what do we do next? The exam starts in two minutes. Should we discuss things first?"

Someone dying right at the start was no good omen.

He Zheng felt irritated.

Everyone turned toward Ye Lin. Contrary to their expectations, however, he merely frowned slightly, his gaze resting on half a leg lying on the ground.

The wound was clean, the yellowish-white fat stained red with blood.

"Ye Lin? Did you notice something?"

Following his gaze, An Ke instinctively asked.

"The shoes are wrong. An Ke, are you sure running away before the exam starts gets you killed?"

An Ke paused at his question, but quickly confirmed it.

"Yes. Refusing the exam or running away will both get you killed. But this is my first time seeing it happen, too."

"The shoes? What's wrong with them?"

Looking at the leg on the ground, An Ke frowned as she asked. Little Chubby's death had been sudden, but if the system had killed him as punishment, he was simply unlucky.

"The shoes on his feet were too new."

Ye Lin spoke softly. After exchanging for the observer bloodline, he could see many tiny details with extraordinary clarity.

"His shoes?"

An Ke looked over in surprise. He Zheng raised an eyebrow, then simply walked over, picked up the leg, and turned it over.

"They do look pretty new, but maybe he just bought them? What is it, Ye Lin? What do you think is wrong?"

"Nothing. Maybe I'm overthinking it."

"Go ahead and discuss things. I'll keep looking."

Ye Lin shook his head and turned his attention to the surrounding crowd.

The shoes were new, but putting on new clothes before the college entrance exam was perfectly normal. That alone wasn't enough to prove anything.

By comparison, their immediate priority was to establish where they were so they could handle the coming exam.

"All right, then I'll go first?"

He Zheng glanced around and took the lead.

"I reckon we've arrived before the virus outbreak. These assholes don't look sick at all."

Looking at the foreigners gathering around on the street, He Zheng grinned and pointed at the nearby [Police Department].

"There's a 'gun shop' up ahead. I say we go in and grab a couple of guns, then kill some gangsters and get ourselves more weapons."

"If we have enough time, we can take over a military base, too. Maybe even get a tank to play with!"

He Zheng couldn't help growing excited as he spoke.

With their current strength, they could absolutely play Homelander for a while.

"I disagree."

The moment He Zheng finished, Huang Liang rejected his proposal outright, refusing to back down even under He Zheng's glare.

"There's no need to use methods like that. Setting aside whether it would break the law, even if we had no other choice, we'd risk being surrounded."

"I think we should contact the local authorities as soon as possible, coordinate with the relevant agencies to warn them about the viral crisis, and work together to fight..."

"Fuck! Little Crewcut, are you out of your mind? You think you're a cop?!"

Before Huang Liang could finish, He Zheng broke into furious cursing.

From the start, he had thought this guy was rigid as hell. Now he'd completely lost his mind. At a time like this, he was still worrying about breaking the law?

"He Zheng, calm down. There's nothing wrong with what Huang Liang said."

Seeing the two on the verge of a fight, An Ke sighed helplessly.

"We could indeed cooperate with this world's authorities. Even if we can't stop the virus outbreak, we can still use their strength to eliminate the zombies."

"Of course, we need to get weapons first."

"An Ke..."

Hu Jia suddenly raised his hand.

"Um... I was thinking... could we escape by plane? Maybe hide somewhere with no people?"

"Isn't this a survival exam? As long as we don't run into zombies, we won't be in danger, right?"

His words caught the others off guard, but An Ke soon shook her head, rejecting his idea outright.

"It won't work. Once we enter the Death Exam, we can find ways to make ourselves stronger, or even lower the difficulty. But if we go against the system's requirements and choose to flee, we'll only die more horribly."

"Someone tried that before. They boarded a plane, and it exploded in midair."

Hu Jia went pale at that, instinctively clutching the small bag at his waist. He didn't dare say anything else.

Apparently, escape was out of the question.

"I disagree!"

"Fuck, Little Crewcut, I don't give a shit whether you agree! You think we can hold off zombies with that crappy gun of yours?!"

"Stop arguing!"

With half a minute left before the exam began, An Ke sighed at the two men, who were still arguing, and couldn't help turning to Ye Lin.

"Ye Lin, what do you think?"

Fortunately, the final decision rested with Ye Lin. Otherwise, with those two's tempers, they would never reach a conclusion no matter how long they argued.

"What do I think?"

At the sound of his voice, everyone hurriedly turned toward him. Even Huang Liang, who had refused to yield, couldn't help looking over.

Facing the group, Ye Lin nodded slightly.

"If the virus hasn't spread yet, the best solution is actually to kill everyone here."

"No people, no zombies."

Ye Lin smiled after saying that, unconcerned by their stiff expressions.

Honestly, he was rather curious what the exam question would become if there were no zombies...

Beep. The exam has begun! All examinees, prepare yourselves!

Exam question: ...!